Train cams featured at Rotary

Pat Doody.

President Jennifer Palakiko presented Cheryl Butters (right) with a certificate.

The guest speaker at the April 4 Rotary meeting held at Kelcy's Restaurant was Cheryl Butters, who, with her husband Mike, operates five live train-watching cameras that can be accessed by the public on their YouTube channel. Mike comes from a family of railfans in Manhattan, New York. He and Cheryl purchased their first camera and installed it at their home on January 4, 2018. The live stream is titled "Tehachapi Live Train Cams and Airbnb at West Cable" on YouTube.

With the success of the first camera, their second was placed at the Depot Museum in Tehachapi on September 23, 2018, and a third at the Tehachapi Loop on November 23, 2019. The Loop Cam is solar-powered and runs on donated batteries. On September 28, 2021 their western-most camera was placed at Edison (Giumarra Vineyards), east of Bakersfield, where many of the trains make crew changes. The latest camera was placed at the Mojave rail yard on October 22, 2022 and is sponsored by a local realtor. Future plans include drone coverage that will allow them to film derailments and perhaps cameras placed to cover some of the tunnels.

Butters said that the cable-cam has a 40X zoom that allows them to view distant wildlife, as well as accidents on Highway 58, up close. Cal Trans now uses their camera footage, as does the Highway Patrol and Bakersfield TV stations when reporting the weather.

They have accrued 331,952 YouTube views and currently have over 29,000 subscribers. Their channel now has a chat feature and they have moderators who can move the cameras

Catch up with the Tehachapi Train Cams at http://www.YouTube.com/c/TehachapiLiveTrainCam/.

The Rotary Club of Tehachapi is a volunteer service organization with the motto, "Service Above Self." The Club meets at Kelcy's on Thursdays at noon. For more information about Rotary Club, you can visit their Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/RotaryClubofTehachapi/.